1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pneumatic tire having a modified decorative portion, and a vulcanization mold for making the same.
2. Background Information
Pneumatic tires provided with a decorative band formed from a plurality of ridges extending in a tire radial direction on an outer surface of a side wall are conventionally used on four-wheel vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses and so on as described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. H11-201228A. Conventionally, when forming the outer surface of the side wall to be planar, minor recesses and protrusions formed in the outer surface of the side wall due to the presence of a folded end portion of a carcass are noticeable. One purpose of providing the decorative band formed by the plurality of ridges is to make these recesses and protrusions unnoticeable.
However, with such a pneumatic tire, the plurality of ridges extending in the tire radial direction is only systematically disposed at equal intervals in a tire circumferential direction. Therefore, there are cases where the recesses and protrusions generated on the outer surface of the side wall are noticeable and there is a demand to make the recesses and protrusions unnoticeable. Additionally, in recent years, demands for making the decorative band on the outer surface of the side wall more noticeable for the purpose of enhancing the decoratability of the tire have been growing.